1993 Top Three

Originally posted to grapevine.com

1. Duran Duran - The Wedding Album

Can't believe no-one else has mentioned this. One of the best all-round albums
ever. Too Much Information is a great way to start and there's a searing solo
towards the end - both this and To Whom It May Concern could both have been
written by Fish in an anti-big business fit of pique (except he'd have had to
double the length of most of the words and throw in some obscure references)
:-). Ordinary World is sublime - almost as much so as Come Undone. Love Voodoo
- groovy man! Drowning Man/Shotgun - get in another anti-US dig and I'm all
yours baby! Breath After Breath is the Hope For The Future of the album. Side
Two continues the cool and trendy theme with some excellently-crafted songs (and
a not-bad cover of Femme Fatale), culminating in Sin Of The City - if you've ever
been on a fire traiing course this is about the fire in the night-club that they
show you the reconstruction of - seriously scary shit.

2. Rush - Counterparts

Ooh! Rush go grungey! Another seriously cool album (if you remove Nobodys Hero
anyway - what were you thinking of Neil!). Animate, Stick It Out and Cut To The
Chase rock serious fat ones before a bit of a mid-album mellow out, where the
songs lose much of their punch. It picks back up again with one of the best Rush
tracks ever - Double Agent ("My angels and my demons at war" etc.) - Leave That
Thing Alone continues where Where's My Thing left off, Cold Fire is one of Mr
Peart's best relationship songs ("The flame at the heart of a pawnbroker's
diamond is a cold fire. The look in your eyes as you head for the door is a cold
fire.") and Everyday Glory ends the album in fine style - "If the future's
looking dark, we're the ones who have to shine. If there's no-one in control,
we're the ones who draw the line. Though we live in trying times, we're the ones
who have to try. Though we know that time has wings, we're the ones who have to
fly." Fails to knock Duran off the top spot because of the middle tracks from
Nobody's Bollox to Speed of Love though and because it's not as diverse. P.S.
Yes, Annie, five years on I've just about forgiven you the scratch all the way
across Animate! :-)

3. Radiohead - Pablo Honey

Um - has everyone forgotten this one as well? Radiohead's first, a little less
memorable than The Bends and not as obtuse/prog (!) as parts of OK Computer but
still a great collection of pop-rock (sorry for swearing) songs done in a
selection of innovative (certainly for '93) stylees. People (including, to some
extent, a certain band beginning with M on an album beginning with R) have been
trying to copy this ever since.